June 8, 2009

Most Common Cause Of Bankruptcy Is Catastrophic Medical Bills

Why I drink.

Here is the simple reason while there will never be any kind of serious healthcare reform in this country absent a war: no one cares.  About healthcare itself-- it's just a proxy for ideology.   Everything you hear are lies, damned lies, and Harvard.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medical bills are behind more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday in a report they said demonstrates that healthcare reform is on the wrong track.

I'm puzzled by the term "U.S. researchers."  They are Harvard academic researchers funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  Is this to distinguish them from "French researchers" who presumably have more/less credibility depending on your politics; or is it a slip of the tongue suggesting they are actually working for the U.S. government?

...Harvard's Dr. David Himmelstein, an advocate for a single-payer health insurance program for the United States...

What do the authors want to be.... oh, never mind.

II. 

60% is a big number.   Wow.  I didn't realize it was so high!   What I need now is a striking  metaphor that will move me solidly towards populism:

"Unless you're Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy."
Nice.  Sounds a lot like

"Unless you're Bill Gates you're just one serious illness away from bankruptcy."







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